What Research Says About Magnetic Stimulation and Tinnitus

Researchers have studied magnetic stimulation, mostly transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in people with tinnitus. Let us review the available research studies and trials and what they looked at. If you have tinnitus, talk to your doctor or audiologist about your options.

Tinnitus & Hearing Loss

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) estimates roughly 10% of the United States adult population in 2008 has experienced tinnitus lasting at least 5 minutes. Since excessive exposure to loud sounds is a major cause of tinnitus, it can be expected that this estimate from 2008 is likely to have grown significantly. This will have been made worse by the use of personal electronics, such as boomboxes, earphones and headsets. With rapid growth in the manufacturing and farming sectors, occupation-related hearing loss and tinnitus affects millions worldwide. When it comes to the entertainment industry, the problem is worse and affects not only the staff but also the customers. Teenagers and youngsters are especially vulnerable to tinnitus and hearing loss due to loud sound exposure. And, the damage can last a life time.

A newer more dangerous threat to our hearing is the use of mobile phones. We not only stress our ears by the sound exposure but also the ultra-high frequency electromagnetic radiation that cell phones emit can be dangerous^​1​. The risks are even worse when a mobile phone is used mostly on one side of the head. If you’ve been using a mobile phone for more than 10 years, you should get your hearing tested for hearing loss, if it’s not already obvious!

Magnetic stimulation research on tinnitus

Tinnitus is defined as ringing or buzzing heard in the ears.

Beyond tinnitus, researchers have also studied PEMFs in other areas, such as stroke rehabilitation and tissue repair^​2​.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) applies strong pulsed magnetic fields to the head. This is usually done in the professional setting using uncomfortable and expensive, rigid figure-of- 8 or helmet-type devices that limit the possibility of daily use. In the home setting, PEMF therapy is easier to apply as you could simply place a PEMF coil on, inside or under a pillow and sleep on it. Portable PEMF devices are much weaker than clinical TMS equipment, though, and the studies below used TMS, so their results can’t be assumed to apply to a portable device.

Tinnitus can be caused by a problem within the ear itself or, more often, resulting from problems in the auditory center of the brain. That’s why most studies have looked at brain stimulation with TMS in people with tinnitus.

Scientists from departments of clinical neuropsychology, ENT and Psychiatry at the University of Turku in Finland recently conducted a randomized 6-month trial and follow-up study to determine whether coil placement was important in getting results^​3​, and found that it was not a key factor.

A recent experiment in Germany combined magnetic stimulation with sound stimulation and measured how the brain’s auditory response changed^​4​. Studies like this give researchers ways to measure how the brain responds to magnetic stimulation. Research is ongoing into which areas of the brain to stimulate in tinnitus studies^​5​.

In 2012, a study by the Department of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University in Beijing reviewed 5 trials totaling 160 patients who received repetitive magnetic stimulation for chronic tinnitus^​6​.

Another study from 2014 in Turkey looked at low-frequency TMS in 60 patients with tinnitus^​7​.

In 2015, scientists from Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Weill-Cornell Medical College, New York and Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Laboratory, Burke Medical Research Institute published a case report on long-term repetitive TMS in one patient with chronic tinnitus^​8​. The journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine published a comparison study of TMS applied to different parts of the brain. The study compared daily 1 Hz stimulation of the auditory cortex on the same side as the tinnitus with stimulation on the opposite side^​9​.

Conclusions

Research on magnetic stimulation for tinnitus is ongoing, and most of it has used clinical TMS equipment rather than portable PEMF devices. Worldwide, there have been hundreds of studies and trials on applying magnetic stimulation for tinnitus. However it’s important to note that results differ based on age and condition of patients as well as many studies have a very limited scope when it comes to trying different frequencies (why 1 Hz in most studies?), intensities and magnetic stimulation equipment itself in most cases.

If you have tinnitus, talk to your doctor or audiologist before trying any new approach. For background on hearing research, see this review of the role of mitochondrial oxidative stress in hearing loss.